Summary

  • Updates from Monday 21 May until Friday 25 May 2018

Live Reporting

  1. Only half of primary school leavers can swim 25m

    Hannah Stacey
    BBC Radio Cornwall

    young children in swimming pool

    Figures show only half of primary school children can swim the minimum government target of 25 metres by the time they leave.

    Swimming teachers want a review of the way children are taught under the national curriculum.

    A report is recommending the minimum target is pushed to 50 metres.

    It will save some of these kids' lives. Yes, it does cost money, but it's a lifesaver and a life skill. It will last with them for the rest of their lives - not just in school, but outside school and into their futures."

    Lucy Weeks, Swimming coach at Parc Eglos School, Helston

  2. High tide times for the region

    Emily Wood
    BBC Weather

    If you're planning a trip to the coast or seaside, here are the next high water times around Devon and Cornwall.

    High tide times map for Devon and Cornwall

    We'll have the latest forecast on BBC Spotlight at 13:30.

  3. Woman 'regrets' driving through road race

    Joanna Pine was criticised after refusing to turn back during the Plymouth half marathon.

    Read More

  4. Weather: Cloudy with outbreaks of rain

    Emily Wood
    BBC Weather

    Today will be mostly cloudy with some showery outbreaks of rain and a very low risk of thunder.

    Some bright or sunny periods should develop later.

    Maximum temperature: 17C (63F).

    weather map for Devon and Cornwall

  5. Three girls rescued from 'rocky reef'

    BBC Radio Cornwall

    Three teenage girls have been rescued from the sea after getting stuck in a rocky reef.

    The girls had been stuck in chest-deep water near the Albert Pier, Penzance, for more than one hour.

    The Penlee lifeboat was launched after one of the girls' parents called 999 at about 17:15.

    The volunteer crew managed to rescue them and bring them to shore at the Albert Pier slipway, where the Penzance Coastguard Rescue Team were waiting with blankets.

    Although the three were very cold, they were otherwise unharmed.

    Thank you so much for helping my daughter and friends, we are so grateful. She will be making a donation and having many more lectures from us about staying safe and respecting the sea. We thought we had taught her better!"

    Message to the RNLI from one of the girls' parents

    Albert Pier, PenzanceGoogle

  6. Caravan fire 'arson attack'

    BBC Radio Cornwall

    Police are investigating a suspected arson attack on a caravan in west Cornwall.

    Firefighters used four breathing apparatus sets and a hose reel jet to extinguish the fire

    Crews from Hayle and Tolvaddon tackled the blaze in Marsh Lane, Hayle, just after 22:00 on Wednesday.

    a rural laneGoogle

  7. Disabled boy sues Cornish theme park

    Clive Coleman
    BBC legal correspondent

    close up of boy in climbing harness

    A severely disabled boy is suing Flambards Theme Park, in Cornwall - in the first case of its kind - for failing to provide adequate toilet facilities.

    Eleven-year-old Adam George from Redruth requires a 'changing places' toilet, which has extra equipment and space.

    I think a place like Flambards - a theme park, where they expect people to arrive in the morning, stay all day, eat, drink, stay late in the evening - I personally would expect it reasonable that I can use a toilet when I go there, so why shouldn't Adam?"

    Rachel George, Adam's mother

    Flambards, which is in Helston, says it's modified an existing lavatory to better accommodate him, but installing permanent facilities would cost £40,000, putting jobs at risk.

  8. Man treated for burns after fire in Bodmin

    BBC Radio Cornwall

    A man has been treated for burns after a fire at a flat in Bodmin.

    A woman called 999 at about 17:30 on Wednesday saying her flat was on fire and her boyfriend and cats were inside.

    Three fire engines were sent to the blaze, by which time the man had got out of the property.

    He was treated at the scene for burns to his foot. No information about the cats has been released.

    The cause of the fire was accidental.

  9. Three call outs in four hours for Plymouth lifeboat crews

    Rob England
    BBC News Online

    RNLI crews in Plymouth were busy yesterday with two call outs for the all-weather lifeboat and one for the inshore lifeboat in four hours.

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    The all-weather crew was then redirected from helping the person on the fishing vessel to Cawsand Bay...

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  10. Woman jailed for pensioner sex murder

    A jury took 40 minutes to convict Stacey Stripp of murder before she was given a life sentence.

    Read More

  11. Private shooting range 'should be turned down'

    Richard Whitehouse
    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    A planning application from the parents of an Olympic hopeful to build a private shooting range should be turned down, according to councillors.

    Chris and Nick Rounsevell, father and grandfather of James Rounsevell, want permission for a skeet practice area on their land at Pensilva, Liskeard.

    James is hoping to represent Great Britain in Olympic skeet at the next Games in 2020, but the closest practice range is more than 200 miles away in Woking.

    The planning application is due to go before Cornwall Council's east sub-area planning committee next Tuesday.

    But planning officers have recommended that it should be refused on the grounds that it would cause a noise nuisance for neighbours.

  12. Weather: Cloudier overnight with showers later spreading

    BBC Weather

    Dry and clear at first this evening and into the first part of tonight. As the night wears on though, cloud will thicken from the southeast, with a few showers arriving from the east towards dawn.

    Minimum temperature: 6 to 11C (43 to 52F).

    Weather

    A cloudy start to Thursday, with showers spreading from the east that will likely turn heavy and potentially thundery at times. Feeling cooler than of late in the rain.

    Maximum temperature: 14 to 17C (57 to 63F).

  13. Power cut in Exmouth

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  14. Falcon breeding business looks to spread wings

    Naomi Kennedy
    BBC Radio Cornwall

    A falcon breeding business in Cornwall is looking to expand so that it can supply birds to a lucrative falcon racing industry in the United Arab Emirates.

    Raptors of Penwith has applied for outline planning permission to build a falcon breeding centre on land at its base at Bosavern, St Just.

    Planners have heard that the "proposal will reduce the demand for wild-taken birds and will therefore have the added benefit of aiding conservation efforts to protect" falcons.

    No date has been set for when the outline planning application might be determined.

    FalconGetty Images

  15. Spaceports funding decision 'due shortly'

    BBC Politics

    Prime Minister Theresa May says there will be an announcement "shortly" about funding for new UK spaceports.

    Several sites in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Newquay have been cited as possible locations for such a facility which could allow the launch of space vehicles.

    Her comments came during Prime Minister's Questions in response to Steve Double, Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay, who told her that Cornwall was "keen and ready" to play its part.

  16. Cornish MP appointed to Council of Europe assembly by PM

    Cornish Stuff

    St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double has been appointed to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe following a statement by the prime minister.

    The Council of Europe is the body that granted the Cornish National Minority Status under its Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCPNM), and also gives protection and support to the Cornish Language, Kernewek, under its language charter.

  17. Cornwall travel: Accident at A38 Trerulefoot roundabout

    BBC Radio Cornwall

    On the A38 at Trerulefoot, there are reports of an accident on the A38 near the Trerulefoot roundabout.

  18. 'Candyfloss-like' chicks part of bird reintroduction work

    Andrew Segal
    BBC Local Live

    Edwards’s pheasant chickPaignton Zoo

    A new clutch of Edwards’s pheasant chicks which "look as delicate as candyfloss" are among the latest animals born at Paignon Zoo.

    The zoo said the week-old birds were part of work to reintroduce the species to forests in south east Asia, which "hasn’t been seen in the wild in nearly 20 years" in Vietnam.

    The critically endangered species has suffered from deforestation, hunting and the use of defoliants during the Vietnam War.

    The zoo said some of the latest clutch were being hand-reared for the first time "to see if there are any differences in behaviour between hand-reared and parent-reared birds".

    It said hand-rearing was "more efficient and can give us many more birds", but they had to behave "as much like the parent-reared birds as possible" for when attempts would be made in later years to reintroduce them into the wild in an international project in Vietnam.